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CMS-HIG-19-002 ; CERN-EP-2020-106
Measurement of the inclusive and differential Higgs boson production cross sections in the leptonic WW decay mode at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV
JHEP 03 (2021) 003
Abstract: Measurement of the fiducial inclusive and differential production cross sections of the Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV are performed using events where the Higgs boson decays into a pair of W bosons that subsequently decay into a final state with an electron, a muon, and a pair of neutrinos. The analysis is based on data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC during 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. Production cross sections are measured as a function of the transverse momentum of the Higgs boson and the associated jet multiplicity. The Higgs boson signal is extracted and simultaneously unfolded to correct for selection efficiency and resolution effects using maximum-likelihood fits to the observed distributions in data. The integrated fiducial cross section is measured to be 86.5 $\pm$ 9.5 fb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation of 82.5 $\pm$ 4.2 fb. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectations is observed in the differential measurements.
Figures & Tables Summary References CMS Publications
Figures

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Figure 1:
Observed distributions of ${m^{ll}}$ in data and the expectations from the best fit model with the uncertainties. The distributions in each ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\mathrm{H}}}$ bin are given in separate panels. Within each panel, the lower sub-panel displays background-subtracted observations and expectations.

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Figure 2:
Observed distributions of ${m^{ll}}$ in data and the expectations from the best fit model with the uncertainties. The distributions in each ${N_{\text {jet}}}$ bin are given in separate panels. Within each panel, the lower sub-panel displays background-subtracted observations and expectations. For $ {N_{\text {jet}}} = $ 0, results are split into $ {{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{l_{2}}} > $ 20 GeV (left) and $ {{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{l_{2}}} < $ 20 GeV (right).

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Figure 3:
Correlation among the signal strength modifiers in bins of fiducial ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\mathrm{H}}}$ (left) and ${N_{\text {jet}}}$ (right). For the ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\mathrm{H}}}$ matrix, results of the regularized and unregularized fits are given above and below the diagonal.

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Figure 3-a:
Correlation among the signal strength modifiers in bins of fiducial ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\mathrm{H}}}$. Results of the regularized and unregularized fits are given above and below the diagonal.

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Figure 3-b:
Correlation among the signal strength modifiers in bins of fiducial ${N_{\text {jet}}}$.

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Figure 4:
Observed fiducial cross sections in bins of ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\mathrm{H}}}$ (left) and ${N_{\text {jet}}}$ (right), overlaid with predictions from the nominal and alternative models for signal. The ggF and VBF samples are generated using POWHEG in the nominal model and MadGraph 5\_aMC@NLO in the alternative model. The uncertainty bars on the observed cross sections represent the total uncertainty, with the statistical, experimental (including luminosity), and theoretical uncertainties also shown separately. The uncertainty bands on the theoretical predictions correspond to quadratic sums of renormalization- and factorization-scale uncertainties, PDF uncertainties, and statistical uncertainties of the simulation. The filled histograms in the ratio plots show the relative contributions of the Higgs boson production modes in each bin.

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Figure 4-a:
Observed fiducial cross sections in bins of ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\mathrm{H}}}$, overlaid with predictions from the nominal and alternative models for signal. The ggF and VBF samples are generated using POWHEG in the nominal model and MadGraph 5\_aMC@NLO in the alternative model. The uncertainty bars on the observed cross sections represent the total uncertainty, with the statistical, experimental (including luminosity), and theoretical uncertainties also shown separately. The uncertainty bands on the theoretical predictions correspond to quadratic sums of renormalization- and factorization-scale uncertainties, PDF uncertainties, and statistical uncertainties of the simulation. The filled histograms in the ratio plot show the relative contributions of the Higgs boson production modes in each bin.

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Figure 4-b:
Observed fiducial cross sections in bins of ${N_{\text {jet}}}$, overlaid with predictions from the nominal and alternative models for signal. The ggF and VBF samples are generated using POWHEG in the nominal model and MadGraph 5\_aMC@NLO in the alternative model. The uncertainty bars on the observed cross sections represent the total uncertainty, with the statistical, experimental (including luminosity), and theoretical uncertainties also shown separately. The uncertainty bands on the theoretical predictions correspond to quadratic sums of renormalization- and factorization-scale uncertainties, PDF uncertainties, and statistical uncertainties of the simulation. The filled histograms in the ratio plot show the relative contributions of the Higgs boson production modes in each bin.
Tables

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Table 1:
Definition of the fiducial region.

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Table 2:
Binning of the ${\mathcal {DO}}$ and signal categorizations used in the respective bins.

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Table 3:
Observed signal strength modifiers and resulting cross sections in fiducial ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\mathrm{H}}}$ bins. The cross section values are the products of ${\sigma ^{\text {SM}}}$ and the regularized $\mu $. The total uncertainty and the contributions by origin are given, where the contributions are statistical (stat), experimental excluding integrated luminosity (exp), theoretical related only to signal modeling (sig), to the background modeling (bkg), and integrated luminosity (lumi). Estimated biases in regularization are separately listed in the second from last column and are not included in the total uncertainty.

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Table 4:
Observed signal strength modifiers, uncertainties, and resulting cross sections in fiducial ${N_{\text {jet}}}$ bins. The cross section values are the products of ${\sigma ^{\text {SM}}}$ and the unregularized $\mu $. The uncertainties are separated by origin as in Table 3.
Summary
Inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections for Higgs boson production have been measured using ${\mathrm{H}\to\mathrm{W^{+}}\mathrm{W^{-}}\to{\mathrm{e^{\pm}}\mu^{\mp}\nu\bar{\nu}} }$ decays. The measurements were performed using pp collisions recorded by the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. Differential cross sections as a function of the transverse momentum of the Higgs boson and the number of associated jets produced are determined in a fiducial phase space that is matched to the experimental kinematic acceptance. The cross sections are extracted through a simultaneous fit to kinematic distributions of the signal candidate events categorized to maximize sensitivity to Higgs boson production. The measurements are compared to standard model theoretical calculations using the POWHEG and MadGraph5+MCatNLO generators. No significant deviation from the standard model expectations is observed. The integrated fiducial cross section is measured to be 86.5 $\pm$ 9.5 fb, consistent with the SM expectation of 82.5 $\pm$ 4.2 fb. These measurements were performed for the first time in the ${\mathrm{H}\to\mathrm{W^{+}}\mathrm{W^{-}}}$ decay channel at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV exploiting the full data sample available. The methods for the determination of the differential cross section have been updated significantly compared to the last report in the same channel at $\sqrt{s} = $ 8 TeV, combining the signal extraction, unfolding, and regularization into a single simultaneous fit.
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Compact Muon Solenoid
LHC, CERN